Is There An Afterwards?
by She Of The Dark
Summary: Will Stanton, sick of college, decides to take up a different life in which he roams the world looking for action. In one of his jobs, he remeets his friend Bran and his girlfriend...Jenny. Could there be some tension? Read and review!


Is There An Afterwards?  
  
Will looked up at the huge stone building that loomed above him. This was it. This was the beginning of his life. And yet.and yet it felt as if his life was gone. Over. Past. What more was there? What else could he learn or experience? Certainly, no normal professor at Oxford University could teach him how to fly, nor could they prepare him for his "life." No, no, they were wrong. His life had passed, his time was over with and there was nothing left for him to do except obey the will of others. Others. Parents. Professors. For the next eight years of this life he would spend his time 'learning' the trade of medicine. What was the use? Was this despair he felt? Or was it depression? Or just plain boredom? Did it really matter? Everyone who had understood had disappeared.gone away.left him.forgotten. He would have to make a new life.one of mortals and forget his identity, what he was, or else be left to this empty core that he felt now.  
  
"Will! What are you doing? Come on, I'm anxious to see our room"  
  
Will looked over at his new roommate, Peter Wilkes from Newfoundland, Canada. They had, by strange chance, met at the orientation desk. So far, he seemed alright. A cheery fellow on the whole, Will thought. Perhaps Peter's mood would influence his roommate's for the better. Hopefully.  
  
"Right, sorry 'bout that. Let's go. Uh.which dorm are we in again?"  
  
"Higgins, it's the oldest one.on the right. My my.looks the oldest too," Peter remarked with a snort.  
  
Will made a deliberate effort to start acting normal and followed his roommate into the old, castle-like, stone building and up the stairs.  
  
"Room 423. Here we are"  
  
The room, on the top floor at the furthest end of the hallway, didn't look too promising. And the inside didn't contradict Will's thoughts. Musty, old, and creaky were three lovely words that the room embodied.  
  
"It's a beauty." Will muttered.  
  
Peter laughed, "You'd think a college like Oxford would be able to have nice, inhabitable rooms. I mean, they're only one of the best colleges in England! And I mean, one person's tuition alone should be able to remodel all the dorms."  
  
"Perhaps they're trying to keep us tied to our ancestors, so we can learn and understand the past and learn from it! What greater purpose could there be?" Will commented in a sarcastic tone.  
  
Yes, Oxford was full of mysteries like dorm rooms. I mean, what were these things called classes? Really, Will just didn't see the use in them. Sure, he turned in his homework that he saw on the syllabus, even got good marks on them too. But, for some odd reason, the professors didn't seem to care what he got on his work if he didn't attend class. A waste of my bloody time, Will continued to think despite the rebukes of his professors. What was he doing with his bloody time? Well, that's another thing. What was he doing.well, he was exploring the grounds. That was one thing. He had done that a number of times. Beautiful, but he needed something else. So he explored the campus itself, the buildings. There were all sorts of nooks and crannies. And the most memorable of them all.inspired him to great ends. Will remember specifically, he had gone into a sort of basement in the old English wing, and was looking for interesting classrooms. Most were unused and were dull, but some unused ones had interesting things. Books, chairs, papers. At last, he stumbled upon a particularly interesting room. As Will walked in, his eyes immediately fell upon a huge, seemingly hand-drawn, map. It must have been some island somewhere, Will first thought. He didn't recognize it being from any well- known place. Will neared the map and looked around the edges for a name. Finally, in the corner, was the name "Middle-Earth". Middle-Earth? What was this? Some science fiction classroom? A land in the middle of the earth? But that was impossible.the island of Middle-Earth had what seemed to be an ocean around it. And the land was full of mountains and forests. No, it had to be something else. Will looked around the classroom for more clues. He picked up a book. "The Lord of the Rings" it read. Now it was clear to Will, he recalled now that the author of the book.who was it.ah yes, Tolkien, had taught at Oxford. But he was long dead. What were his things doing here? Wait.there was a sign on the door, Will admitted. He walked out of the room and read it. "J.R.R. Tolkien's old study. Contents are soon to be removed. Please do not enter." Well that would explain a few things.the lack of desks in the room, and of course, why he had had to kick the lock a number of times before he could get in. But back, to the more important stuff. Middle-Earth.  
  
About a week later, Will had read the entire "The Lord of the Rings" series. Which got him thinking, again, about why he was here. Wouldn't it be more fun to clear off? To go somewhere and do something? True, he had been on one amazing adventure before, but there were others. No, he couldn't exactly destroy the ring of Sauron, nor could he battle the Dark, but Will was sure there was something. And it was that thought which got him searching.  
  
A/N: I promise, this will NOT be a LOTR/TDIR fic.in fact, this is probably the only chapter that will include LOTR..maybe not, but only referred to as a good book in the future. Anyhow, please please review! Its encouraging to know someone reads it.even if you're just insulting it or w/e.reviews make me update quicker. 


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